Xerox is collaborating with Manipal University Hospital to develop a noncontact health-sensing technology.BENGALURU: Phaneesh Murthy-founded PM Health and Life Care (PMHLC) has launched a healthcare exchange Zigy.com that's integrated with Zigy HealthVault, a patient-controlled electronic health record system where patients and their family members can store their health-related information. Zigy facilitates easy retrieval, upon the patient’s authorization, to enable doctors and other care providers to fully comprehend the case history.

"In the next 3-5 years, a lot of things on the exchange would be fully functional. We are looking to raise $10-$12 million to expand out footprint to 50 cities within the next 18 months," said Murthy, co-founder and executive chairman of PMHLC.

He believes the opportunity is huge. The Indian heathcare industry is expected to touch $280 billion by 2020 from $80 billion in 2012 as higher life expectancy is forcing service providers to manage healthcare costs more efficiently.The company has already raised $5 million as seed fund from Murthy's venture capital firm PM Ventures and from CSS Corp CEO Tiger Ramesh and Pune-based Opus Group chairman Ramesh Mengawade have both invested $1 million into the venture.

As the first offering, Zigy.com connects chemists and druggists with consumers. The chemists and druggists online marketplace will initially serve customers in five cities—Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi. It is available on both the web and mobile platforms. Hemant Bhardwaj, CEO and MD of PMHLC, said, the company is looking to achieve one million transactions in the next 12 months.

Indian pharmacy retail is fragmented with unorganized players accounting for over 95% of the market. Indians spent 7% of their disposable incomes on healthcare in 2005, which is expected to nearly double to 13% by 2025, said a PwC report. Due to the high growth potential, organized pharma and wellness chains have attracted the attention of PE players. A few years back, US private equity group Mount Kellett Capital Management had led a Rs 410-crore ($90 million) investment in MedPlus Health Services.